The Strange Case of Jeff Gannon: Cick for Articles, Accounts, and his Connection with Valerie Plame
Gannon was seemingly a member of the White House Press Corp until 2005. To be a member of the White House Press Corp (those reporters who ask the White House Press Secretary questions every day and get spun in circles), one must be with a legitimate news organization, which means that the organization 1.) Regularly publishes, 2.) Is independent and non-partisan, and 3.) Has advertiser or subscriber financial support. Once these qualifications are met, the reporter must undergo an FBI security clearance check in order to get the White House Press Corps pass.
Jeff Gannon (real name James Guckert) did not work for a non-partisan, subscriber or advertiser-supported news source, did not have any prior journalism experience, and never had an FBI security clearance check. He was issued a daily pass by someone from within the adminsitration; normally this would be alright, and is a practice started in the Reagan adminsitration to allow journalists from various media sources White House access. However, it was meant for a day or two; Gannon got day passes for over two years.
Other journalists became curious about Gannon when Press Secretary Scott McClellan developed a practice of calling on Jeff whenever he was being barraged with difficult questions. Jeff could be counted on to break up the tough questions with a few softballs. On Jan. 26, 2005, during a presidential press conference, Gannon asked President Bush how he could "work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality"; this was a decidedly non-journalistic question, and others in the press corps started investigating. Gannon worked for an organization called Talon News, which was a wholly-owned subsidiary of GOPUSA, a Texas political action committee; the job of Talon News was to release conservative talking points as press releases. This was neither a subscriber nor advertiser-funded organizaiton, nor was it independent or non-partisan. Furthermore, they learned that Gannon's real name was James Guckert, and at the time was also a high-class male-for-male prostitute in the D.C. area; he advertised on the web (with telling photos), and angled for military men. So not only was Gannon/Guckert not a journalist, he didn't work for a legitimate media organization and made his living through prostitution.
Questions arose. Who did he know in the White House that was giving him daily press passes for two years? Why was he given the press passes? Was it because if they didn't give him the passes, he'd never pass the FBI security clearance, being a prostitute? And more telling --why was Gannon one of 25 journalists to whom deep-cover CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity was leaked by an administration official (now known to be Vice President Cheney's chief of staff Scooter Libby)?
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